Embracing the Here and Now Finding the silver linings Photo essay by Sarah King
Here at the King’s Anvil, in the southern reaches of Arizona, our day-to-day lives have been less affected than the lives of many others — the benefit of living and working on a ranch. When COVID-19 arrived, we were already accustomed to having a little less social contact, making limited grocery runs, and cooking creatively. We are fortunate that the ranch work has continued relatively unchanged and that the Altar Valley Conservation Alliance — a collaborative conservation nonprofit comprised of local farms and ranches, of which we are a founding member — was already well established, with employees working remotely. Nonetheless, we still feel the pandemic’s effects. We spent the spring, summer, and fall asking the same questions as the rest of the world: How does this virus spread? How do we protect people? When will it go away? We canceled the ranch’s 125th anniversary party in April and like everyone else, we missed numerous other occasions where we would have gathered with family and friends. Although change was forced upon us unexpectedly, there were silver linings. We adapted the Altar Valley Conservation Alliance’s meetings to the new virtual world, which brought the unexpected reward of being able to reach those partners, flung far and wide, that we do not interact with on a regular basis. We celebrated my husband’s fortieth birthday with fewer people than we would have, but with no less cake, party blowers, and festivity. I took more photos of the spring wildflowers this year than usual, in an effort to celebrate the everyday. In the moments of uncertainty and darkness, resilience has meant letting go of what was supposed to be and embracing the small moments of joy.
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